High desert burners?

[ddug]

Greenghorn here, first season- trying to gain some experience from folks who live in a similar area to mine, which is in SW NM @ 6000 ft. Anyone familiar with this terrain knows that it is dominated by 4 species of trees.

In approximate order of population density (highest to lowest) they are: One seed Juniper, Alligator Juniper, Pinion pine and Scrub Oak.

I am collecting wood for next year and beyond now and was wondering if there is one of these I should be concentrating on- excluding Oak, I'll get all I can of that. So far I have had decent results with the One seed Juniper, it seems to leave a lot of ash and coals but that could be because it's not dry enough. The Alligator Juniper is good also, less ash than the one seed. Aside from the Oak the Pinion seems the best but it may also be the driest. I don't have a moisture meter.

My stove is small (1 cubic ft.) so I'd like to maximize it's efficiency as best I can with what I've got.

Also I was wondering if people living in this region, much of the Southwest and West, have found that their wood dries faster here with the wind, low humidity, and sunshine. It would seem so.

I'm envious of all you midwest and eastern dwellers with your vast variety of hardwoods and tall, straight trees. Most of the stuff here is small and gnarly, full of knots. Makes for difficult and potentially dangerous splitting!

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Concentrate on wood that it easiest/closest/free-est

 

[SteveKG]

Humidity here is usually less than 20%, the other day I saw 16%. We are also high and dry, at 8500 ft. All we have available is spruce, pine, and aspen. Almost nothing else grows here. I try to stay at least two yr. ahead on my wood supply, stored in open-sided sheds. But years ago, I had no sheds and kept it stacked outdoors under deteriorating cheap tarps and scrap lumber. Still, I never had a problem. It is nicer to have the covered storage now, but I did fine without it.

Green wood up here does not take too long to cure. Cottonwood is sometimes available from people at lower altitudes clearing their yards, and I've found it cures up in a few months, not that I like it much for firewood [but when it's free....]

The pine and spruce I cut is all standing dead wood, though occasionally due to winds there are some green ones that come down. I segregate the green stuff for a year, but I have actually used it when supplies were low, a time or two, after only three or four months, and it also burned just fine.

 

[Wood Duck]

I am guessing the junipers and pine are similar enough that it makes sense to get the easiest wood, not concentrate on one species or another. I bet any wood will season pretty fast in your area, so wood you are cutting now will be very dry by next winter.